(02-06-2016, 04:02 PM)3wt Wrote: Sanu is not near the receiver Jones is - especially deep.  Eifert gets his targets in the seam and the red zone - and has a history of getting knocked out of a couple of games when he gets hit on a seam route - and has an overall history now of being easily injured.  Neither of those guys is the deep threat that Jones is 

Our offense is not competitive without all three of those targets.

Any receiver we get in this draft will take years to develop with the possible exception of Fuller or Miller - and neither will be prepared to replace Jones (at his current playing level) in their first season.

I say pay the guy to stay if we want to get another shot at the big game.

I usually agree with you 3wt, and i definately want MLJ back but we cannot nor should we pay him as a #1 receiver.
Green, Eifert, Sanu, plus a cheaper FA like Travis Benjamin or Rishard Matthews plus a Draft pick would be better for
the team as a whole.

We can't get in a bidding war with teams that will pay MLJ to be their #1 receiver. Sucks but it is what it is.

Eifert doesn't have a history of being easily injured either, there has been 1 bad injury where he got his arm broke
and a dirty shot to his head by Mitchell, that is not easily injured or even injury prone.

Corey Coleman, Will Fuller, Da'runnya Wilson etc in the Draft all would be great to go with Benjamin or Matthews
in FA and could even be an upgrade over MLJ. MLJ is special, i have said this a lot but he has yet to be a #1 in this
league, could be a gamble if we pay him like one when we already have our #1 in Green and have Eifert to pay
down the road.

3 years 18 mill is my guess

4 years into the league and still 25 years young, he'll get his worth.

(02-06-2016, 02:15 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Probably, but haven't we seen a revolving door of WR's lately?  

Shipley
Simpson
Binns
Hawkins
Whalen
Sanzenbacher
Little
Moore

and so on.  I just feel like we've put a lot of proverbial pokers in the fire and haven't seen as much consistency on the returns as I'd need to confidently say we are going to replace Jones without a hiccup.  That doesn't mean we get in a bidding war to keep him out of Cleveland, but I won't be too pleased we saved cap room (we might not even use) if we're back to hoping Wright can do what we assumed Binns and Simpson would.

I guess BC people see Odell Beckham and a couple good draft classes they think its just easy as hell to find WR help. I dont get it. We had Greg Little and Rex Burkhead as our WRs in the playoffs not that long ago. Behind Sanu and MJ we have nothing developed. What makes these people think we can just plug anybody in as a starting WR and not miss a beat? Crazyness

Who other than Iloka and MJ is the young talent we have developed that is a free agent?

These are the types we pay. Pay the man

(02-06-2016, 05:15 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I guess BC people see Odell Beckham and a couple good draft classes they think its just easy as hell to find WR help. I dont get it. We had Greg Little and Rex Burkhead as our WRs in the playoffs not that long ago. Behind Sanu and MJ we have nothing developed. What makes these people think we can just plug anybody in as a starting WR and not miss a beat? Crazyness

(02-06-2016, 05:17 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Who other than Iloka and MJ is the young talent we have developed that is a free agent?

These are the types we pay. Pay the man

So you think we should pay MLJ like he is a #1 WR?

(02-06-2016, 05:29 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: So you think we should pay MLJ like he is a #1 WR?

That's hard to say without knowing who is replacing him, how well he does, and what our cap space is in 2016.  I will say that saving 2 million bucks by letting Jones walk isn't going to cut it if we have a void at WR#2 that costs us wins.

We won't know if Jones is overpaid or not until we see how we do without him.  Such is the nature of the business, no?

Rod Streater ( Raiders) looks like an excellent FA target to replace Jones. He is 6'2 200 and ran a 4.37 40. Streater caught 60 balls in 2013 fractured his foot in 2014 and seemed to have issues with the new coaching staff in 2015.

(02-06-2016, 05:29 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: So you think we should pay MLJ like he is a #1 WR?

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/cap-hit/wide-receiver/

7 mil per would put him 26th on the list. In between a couple #2 WRs. The franchise tag number was 12.8mil last year. So he will probably be about half the cost of what the new franchise tag number will be this year

We have something like 30mil to spend. Its worth spending it on a known productive member of the team entering the prime of his career instead of taking a step back and going through jerome simpson, laverneas coles , bryant , and TO like debacles trying to replace him.

(02-06-2016, 02:15 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Probably, but haven't we seen a revolving door of WR's lately?  

Shipley
Simpson
Binns
Hawkins
Whalen
Sanzenbacher
Little
Moore

and so on.  I just feel like we've put a lot of proverbial pokers in the fire and haven't seen as much consistency on the returns as I'd need to confidently say we are going to replace Jones without a hiccup.  That doesn't mean we get in a bidding war to keep him out of Cleveland, but I won't be too pleased we saved cap room (we might not even use) if we're back to hoping Wright can do what we assumed Binns and Simpson would.

Of all the WRs in that list, only Simpson was brought in with intentions of (eventually) starting. Shipley was drafted to be a slot guy. The rest were roster fluff. Hawkins wound up working his way into a prominent role, but it's not like those were the intentions when he was brought in. I would hope that the Bengals would take the #2 WR position a bit more seriously than that if they decide to let MLJ walk.

I'm mostly against paying MLJ $7+ million based on his production. That said, if we let him walk and don't make a serious effort to replace him (i.e. using a quality pick and/or bringing in a vet such as Benjamin or Rishard Matthews), then I'd be pretty ticked. Sanu is stretched thin as a #2 and we have no one else of note.

To sum this up, I'd rather overpay MLJ than let him walk if the Bengals have no serious plans to adequately replace him. Now if they would spend a top pick on a replacement and use the money saved to shore up other positions, I'd be all for that. Also, if they could find a good FA replacement for $2 million less, I'd also be for that.

But I agree with you that if they're just going to pocket the money saved, then why does it matter?

(02-06-2016, 07:21 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/cap-hit/wide-receiver/

7 mil per would put him 26th on the list. In between a couple #2 WRs. The franchise tag number was 12.8mil last year. So he will probably be about half the cost of what the new franchise tag number will be this year

We have something like 30mil to spend. Its worth spending it on a known productive member of the team entering the prime of his career instead of taking a step back and going through jerome simpson, laverneas coles , bryant , and TO like debacles trying to replace him.

Actually the franchise number will probably go down if calvin johnson is removed from the equation. But either way when the 7 mil aint bad for a guy who still has upside and is entering the prime of his career. And when the next batch of WRs like Mike Evans , Odell , sammy watkins sign their deals our combo of AJ and MJ will look like a bargain.

(02-06-2016, 04:48 PM)coachmcneil71 Wrote: I like Jones as much as the next guy but having been a Bengal fan for quite a long time and knowing how our FO works, I don't think they will resign Jones.
Sanu should be easier to sign and he is multi skilled capable of playing QB in a pinch. They will draft a player with MJ's skill set and push on if MJ gets an offer for 7 mill per, which I think he will.
I think they will try to resign him at the Bengal's price but he will get more money elsewhere. After the Bears tag Jeffrey, Jones will be the top FA WR and some team will overpay cause one or two always do.

Sure Sanu will be easier to resign because he won't draw as much interest. That's because we had Sanu as the #2 in 2014 and he had to play several games as the #1 and he just wasn't the guy who could get open when he's the #1 target.

We'll still need a deep threat as a #2, either Jones or someone else. Sanu isn't going to fill that role.

If he'd stay for 6M/yr I'd probably be ok as long as we can lock up Iloka for like 5M/yr because we still need to try and resign Eifert/Gio/Zietler

(02-06-2016, 09:31 AM)BonnieBengal Wrote: He will get that 7m somewhere, possibly Cleveland.  I expect Hue to steal  lot of our players.

Wasn't Zimmer supposed to steal them as well. And Jay? Zim tried to get MJ and lost out.

(02-06-2016, 07:38 PM)BengalChris Wrote: Sure Sanu will be easier to resign because he won't draw as much interest. That's because we had Sanu as the #2 in 2014 and he had to play several games as the #1 and he just wasn't the guy who could get open when he's the #1 target.

We'll still need a deep threat as a #2, either Jones or someone else. Sanu isn't going to fill that role.

When Sanu was our#1 who was our 2-3?

(02-06-2016, 09:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: When Sanu was our#1 who was our 2-3?

A combination of sazenbacher, Tate and little.

Meh, I'm more than fine with over-paying for the principle of the thing. That being, if it keeps our players from going to the Shits Stains and having any measure of success, then $7M is not too much. **** Cleveland in the teeth.

You'd be paying him based on potential rather than production. I'm not saying I'd dislike that deal, but at this point he hasn't done enough to deserve it.

(02-06-2016, 04:47 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Sanu doesn't have a lot of talent. At least not as a wide receiver. Guy has questionable hands, and awful ability to get separation, and he's also vanished for the last year and a half.

Also... you're really comparing drafting a WR in the 2nd-4th rounds against drafting a 7th round WR who they envisioned as a kick returner?

Sanu has plenty of talent. Questionable hands ? Of course he does, but he does have raw talent. I would of loved for him to air it out once or twice this year. 

I agree though, drafting a wr isnt going to impact us much. Go after a FA

(02-06-2016, 10:19 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: Meh, I'm more than fine with over-paying for the principle of the thing.  That being, if it keeps our players from going to the Shits Stains and having any measure of success, then $7M is not too much.  **** Cleveland in the teeth.

It sort of reminds me of the pride we had in the Bengals' shrewdness in not overpaying Michael Johnson while trying to explain why it was worth a depleted pass rush all season.

Here's the thing. The team has cap room to keep a few players. Not all 7 of the FA's. But 2 or 3 of them. After that, you fill needs in the draft.